Chapter Six
Baozhu and Aunt Wang walked hand in hand into the courtyard under the old locust tree, startling the goose that was leisurely sunbathing in the yard. The goose widened its beady green eyes, flapped its wings and flew to Baozhu, shouting at her.
The fox spirit was not to be outdone. She quickly and ruthlessly grabbed the goose's head, and with a clever push, sent the feathered beast spinning three times on the spot.
The demon and the goose fought back and forth right under Aunt Wang's nose.
But Aunt Wang, with Baozhu holding her hand, half-closed her eyes and slowly walked into the house, ignoring the commotion.
She led Baozhu into the main room, let go of her hand, and took out incense and candles from the cabinet, lit them, and put them into the incense burner.
There are two memorial tablets in the main room, and the incense table and the whole room are very clean, which shows that someone cleans it regularly.
Baozhu stood aside, gazing absently at Aunt Wang and the memorial tablet, silently pondering in her heart.
Both her husband and daughter predeceased her. It was one thing for her husband, but in the mortal world, it seems that once a daughter is married, her memorial tablet cannot be enshrined in her parents' home.
Aunt Wang's daughter died before she was married?
Baozhu's mind was unusually sharp, which put her in a great mood. Seeing Aunt Wang walk out of the main room and into the courtyard, she followed her.
Aunt Wang tidied her white hair, picked up a basket, and prepared to go out.
As she was about to leave, she paused, turned back to look at Baozhu, and said stiffly, "Baozhu, would you like to come with me?"
At that moment, her eyes were clear.
Not knowing what Aunt Wang was going to do, Baozhu was a little curious and agreed repeatedly, then followed her out the door.
Two women, one old and one young, carrying a basket, set off from the village, passed through the entire village, and then through many villagers' fields before finally arriving at a small hill.
It was a good time to work in the morning, and the villagers were all working in the fields. Baozhu and Aunt Wang inevitably attracted everyone's attention.
Despite being secretly observed by so many people, Aunt Wang pretended not to notice, kept her head down, and followed the path up the mountain.
Now it was Baozhu's turn to be surprised.
Looking out from the top of the mountain, all you can see are graves, one after another, some new, some old, who knows how many people are buried there.
When they reached the mountain, the sky suddenly darkened, and a gust of wind made even the demon Baozhu feel uneasy, but Aunt Wang remained calm.
This thin, withered, white-haired old woman walked through many graves and stopped at the most remote spot on the hilltop.
There are two small graves, one with a tombstone and the other without.
Aunt Wang bent down shakily and spread the contents of her basket on the ground: a piece of burlap, some dry food, and a little water.
She sat down, leaning against her husband's tombstone, and stared blankly at the horizon for a while before realizing something. She turned to Baozhu and said, "Sit, sit."
If Baozhu were truly a mortal lady, she would surely be terrified out of her wits by now. But she is a fox, and she has seen quite a few dead people in the mountains and fields in her daily life.
Baozhu readily agreed and sat down.
Aunt Wang handed her some dry food, which Baozhu took and ate without a care in the world.
The human and the demon lived together harmoniously amidst a graveyard.
After a long pause, Aunt Wang said softly, "I come over to keep her company every day and eat with her."
Although her hair was completely white, upon closer inspection, her face did not appear aged. Baozhu thought that if Aunt Wang still had black hair, she would look no more than forty or fifty years old.
“My beloved daughter loves to act cute with me. Every day she calls out to me, ‘Mother, Mother, what are we eating today?’ When I say we’re having spring pancakes, she’s overjoyed.”
Aunt Wang smiled as she said this.
"It's a pity she left too early. She was murdered, and some of the people who harmed her are still alive and well."
The sky was heavily overcast, and the wind picked up. Aunt Wang seemed unable to continue speaking at this point. Her white hair was slightly ruffled by the wind, and she reached out to tuck the strands behind her ears.
"Where...did you come from?" Aunt Wang suddenly turned to look at Baozhu, her eyes appearing very cloudy. "From the tree?"
Even through such murky eyes, Baozhu could see hope.
Unfortunately, Aunt Wang will be disappointed. She is not a monster born from the old locust tree, and probably won't help Aunt Wang fulfill her wish.
but.
"Guess," Baozhu said with a grin, chewing on her dry rations, neither confirming nor denying. "I might help you."
The grudges and affections between mortals suddenly became interesting to Baozhu.
Then the human and the demon stopped talking and just sat quietly, while the sky grew darker and darker, as if it was about to rain.
Before the heavy rain started, Aunt Wang packed her things to go home. Because of the impending rain, work would be difficult, and many villagers were also packing up to leave. As a result, the two of them had many more companions on their way back.
Perhaps it was because Aunt Wang had been going up the mountain every day to accompany her husband and daughter without fail for years that the villagers had long since become accustomed to it, but the young woman beside her was what aroused curiosity.
Therefore, everyone's attention fell on Baozhu.
"Aunt Wang, who is this?" A burly man carrying a hoe gestured towards Baozhu with his chin.
“My niece,” Aunt Wang replied coldly.
"You're not from Xiandu Prefecture? How did your niece manage to find her way to this place?" Aunt Wang's attitude did not deter the villagers, and another old man said nonchalantly.
"Here we are."
The crowd was clearly dissatisfied with the answer. Seeing that Baozhu was fair-skinned and beautiful, the farmers' eyes began to wander, and they exchanged glances, secretly looking at Baozhu.
Stared at by so many farmers, the ordinary young lady could only cover her face and shrink to the side to cry. Therefore, Baozhu raised her sleeve to cover her face, pretending to be extremely shy.
This excited the farmers even more, and a few of the younger ones were eager to come up and chat with Baozhu.
They looked at the pearl with the eyes of wolves eyeing meat.
Baozhu's eyes, hidden behind her sleeve, gleamed with a cunning light.
The dark clouds in the sky were so low they seemed within reach, and a downpour was imminent, but the first raindrop did not fall from the sky.
Suddenly, Aunt Wang, who was standing next to Baozhu, glared at them and hurled the basket in her hand at the young men who were laughing the loudest.
"What are you looking at! What did you say!" Aunt Wang spat as she spoke, veins bulging on her temples.
The basket hit one of the young men, who cried out in pain.
No one expected that this seemingly thin and withered old woman would have such great strength. She wielded the basket with great force, smashing a group of unruly farmers into running away with their heads in their hands.
They might not be unable to defeat Aunt Wang, but they were intimidated by her imposing presence, and none of them wanted to fight back.
Watching everyone run away, Aunt Wang, panting heavily, looked around blankly, searching for something.
"What are you looking for?" Baozhu asked.
"The linen." Aunt Wang regained her trembling demeanor, picked up the mud-splattered linen from the ground and put it into her basket. "My linen fell."
“You know they can’t do anything to me.” Baozhu looked at the old woman in front of her, puzzled. “Why are you doing this?”
“They…” Aunt Wang looked up at the sky, and the rain that finally fell hit her face in big drops, like tears.
"They bully women," Aunt Wang murmured.
Baozhu seemed to understand, yet remained confused.
The rain intensified, and in the distance, a person holding an umbrella appeared in Baozhu's sight.
She twitched her nose slightly and caught Li Zhi's scent.
Li Zhi had obviously seen them too, and quickened his pace, running towards them. After the three met, he first sheltered Baozhu under his umbrella, and then handed another umbrella to Aunt Wang.
“I saw you and Aunt Wang walking this way,” Li Zhi explained. “You probably didn’t bring umbrellas.”
Raindrops pelted the umbrella, forcing Li Zhi to speak loudly. Baozhu was completely under the umbrella; she glanced at Li Zhi's instantly soaked shoulder, then ducked under Aunt Wang's umbrella.
"Young Master Li, my aunt and I share an umbrella, so please don't get wet."
Baozhu took Wang's arm, comforting Wang, who seemed about to explode again after seeing the other man being close to Baozhu.
Li Zhi hid his face under the umbrella, so no one could see his expression. After a while, he seemed to have thought of something and said, "My aunt seems to be failing. My uncle has just set off for the county town to invite a Taoist master. He should be able to arrive in the village early tomorrow morning."
Baozhu gasped, and Aunt Wang beside her trembled violently.
Now that the Celestial Master has arrived, Baozhu should not interfere with the rest.
Although the local Taoist priests were probably not very powerful, and Baozhu had learned many ways to conceal her demonic form in her previous life, making it difficult for them to discover her true fox demon identity, these methods still made her uncomfortable.
With a sigh in her heart, Baozhu quietly sized up Li Zhi beside her.
Today, he no longer harbored any resentment, presumably because his aunt had completely fallen ill. Once the Celestial Master arrived and exorcised the evil spirits, nothing could harm Li Zhi's life. After this matter was settled, Baozhu could leave this place, just as she had initially planned.
In this life, she has no connection with Li Zhi.
Thinking this, Baozhu's steps became heavy.
After that, the three of them did not speak again. Li Zhi escorted them all the way to Aunt Wang's door before turning and leaving.
“He is just a mortal,” Aunt Wang said softly, looking at Baozhu.
"I know." These words seemed to strike a nerve with Baozhu, and she became somewhat impatient. "I haven't done anything with him."
She deliberately chose to live in Aunt Wang's house, unlike in her previous life, thus avoiding the situation of being alone with Li Zhi. This way, Li Zhi wouldn't have any special feelings for her, and after saving Li Zhi's life, she would return to the mountain.
She, Baozhu, wants to be a free fox in this life, and never again be the mortal wife of the mortal Li Zhi!
Baozhu made a vow to herself!
“Baozhu…” Aunt Wang looked at the raindrops in the yard and hesitated, “You kept it from Li Zhi, but why didn’t you keep it from me? You are…”
“This.” Baozhu came to her senses.
She leaned closer to Aunt Wang and gently sniffed.
"Because you're about to die."
Baozhu's bright eyes gleamed with innocent cruelty as she looked at Aunt Wang and said nonchalantly, "I smell something on you, the scent of death."
"I see." Aunt Wang laughed as if she had just realized something. "Will I be able to get what I want before I die?"
"I think you've gotten what you wanted, haven't you?" Baozhu asked hesitantly, thinking of the old locust tree that would come out to cause trouble every midnight and Zhang Yuniang who was harmed by the old locust tree.
"Far from enough..."
Aunt Wang kept rambling on and on, as if possessed, before lowering her head to begin cleaning.
Baozhu asked several times who her enemy was, how her daughter died, and what she wanted to do, but Aunt Wang ignored her.
Baozhu could never fathom the thoughts of ordinary people, so she only half-understood Aunt Wang's rambling words.
However, by evening, Aunt Wang's words were no longer important, because Li Zhi's paternal aunt, Zhang Yuniang, had died.
Baozhu stood behind the half-closed gate of Aunt Wang's house, watching people coming and going at Li Qing's house across the street, amidst the cacophony of crying and shouting. Soon, white banners were hung inside and outside the small courtyard.
When his mother died, Li Yao cried his heart out. At that time, his father, Li Qing, had not yet returned from the county town. He was responsible for making all the arrangements, but he only cared about crying and did not care about the rest of the funeral. His wife took care of everything.
Li Zhi, as a cousin, also came to help. It took a long time for the group to set up the mourning hall.
Zhang Yuniang's body was placed on the funeral bed, her head covered with yellow paper. A small table was placed in front of the altar, with a lamp and sacrificial wine on it. A curtain was erected behind the table to separate the funeral bed.
We had to separate.
Zhang Yuniang's death was too gruesome. Her tongue, which had grown to two feet long, was hanging on her face. Her eyes, which could not be closed, were covered with thick pterygium. Her body was black and purple and abnormally swollen.
Everyone keeping vigil in the mourning hall was extremely cautious, fearing that they too might be possessed by evil spirits, and they filled the mourning hall with silver poria flowers.
Li Yao's eyes were swollen like peaches. He knelt on the ground, dazed, burning paper money for his mother.
It was only at this moment that Li Qingfang finally returned from the county town, covered in dust. He walked into the mourning hall trembling, and helped his son, who was wailing and rushing towards him. There was no sadness in his eyes, only fear in his cloudy eyes.
“Dead, dead…” Li Qing trembled as he looked at his wife’s shadowy body lying on the funeral bed through the curtain.
Li Yao looked at his father in surprise: "Father, why aren't you crying?"
Li Qing ignored him and looked around the mourning hall.
"Who are you looking for?" Li Yao pressed.
Everyone in the mourning hall looked at Li Qing, and Li Qing found the person he was looking for. He strode forward and tried to grab Li Zhi by the collar.
"How could this be? Why are you alright? Why was it Yu Niang?" Li Qing shouted uncontrollably, his eyes bloodshot. Only then did he burst into tears, sobbing uncontrollably. "Why wasn't it you?!"
Li Zhi took a step back and shook his head, saying, "I don't know what you're talking about."
Li Zhi passed the imperial examination at the age of twelve and became a scholar. Everyone in the Li family hoped that he would have a bright future and bring glory to the family. When they saw Li Qing in such a state, they realized what had happened. For a moment, they forgot their fear and surrounded Li Qing, arguing loudly.
Li Qing came to his senses and gritted his teeth, remaining silent even as his clansmen criticized him in the mourning hall.
In the midst of the argument, before we knew it, midnight had arrived.
A gust of cold wind swept through the mourning hall, and a few leaves fell from the old locust tree not far away. They were swept in and floated behind the mourning tent.
Zhang Yuniang's body suddenly trembled, and the funeral bed creaked.
The mourning hall fell silent instantly.
Everyone's gaze slowly shifted to the spirit bed behind the canopy.
The next instant, out of sight, ten eyes suddenly sprouted from the female corpse's face. She trembled violently, her long tongue thrashing about.
The figure behind the tent trembled, while the people seemed frozen in place, not daring to move.
The ten-eyed woman finally stopped. She opened all her eyes, reached out and tore off the yellow paper covering her body, and jumped off the bed.
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